Action Resources for White Faith Leaders Against the Burning of Black Churches

posted by Dara Silverman | 17752sc
July 09, 2015

“My eyes fail from weeping, I am in torment within; my heart is poured out on the ground because my people are destroyed, because children and infants faint in the streets of the city.”–Lamentations 2:11

“White anxiety cannot become the measure of this movement or of the nation. Our movement must not be guided by the need to assuage white discomfort in the face of righteous black rage. Too often, there has been minimal or fleeting efforts by many in the liberal white community to address police brutality and the bone-crushing poverty exacted upon black bodies across this nation. If we rush to accommodate and appease those white liberals whose presence on the streets of Ferguson has been negligible, we betray the blood of the innumerable Mike Browns of America.”

“Let me repeat: the unified family of God is the answer to the problem of race in America. For years, black Christians have invited white Christians to participate in the unified family of God by leaning into justice issues that affect black people.

“To my white brothers and sisters: you can’t continue to say you are not racist when you continue to accept and support systems that are. It’s time for white people to take responsibility for our acceptance of racist systems.”

“So let’s say that recent, well-publicized events of Police brutality and overreach in relation to African Americans has awakened a desire in you, as a White American, to do something about racism—to try and make a difference. First of all, let me congratulate you. You are on a journey that can and very likely will be one of the most rewarding of your life—the journey to learn about race politics and people whose physical appearance and heritage are different from your own….However, I do think I have a few pointers that might help people on the same journey.”

In three parts, this video series, is from a live forum hosted by Warner Pacific College in Portland, OR. With the Rev. Sekou giving a keynote, and a panel featuring Dr. Daymond Glenn (VP of Warner Pacific), JoAnn Hardesty (Pres. Portland NAACP, former member of Oregon legislature), and Eric Knox (Pastor of Imago Dei Community Exec. Dir. of Waterhouse Network).

Topics discussed:The national crisis of racism, white supremacy, the role of churches, civic engagement, how churches can support protest movement.

“There are a variety of strategies that run from face-to-face engagement to pressure on public policy. We have to engaged on every front because the issue is so urgent and the problems are so complex that there cannot be a single strategy. As we grow in our commitment to racial equality or social justice we have to be very imaginative. We have to find ways that have transformative potential.”

Muslim

“And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and the diversity of your languages and your colors. Indeed in that are signs for those of knowledge.” [30:22] by the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative

“As Muslims we know the importance of protecting the vulnerable and respecting people who call on God in their various tongues. We want for others what we want for ourselves: the right to worship without intimidation, the right to safety, and the right to property. We must always keep in mind that the Muslim community and the black community are not different communities. We are profoundly integrated in many ways, in our overlapping identities and in our relationship to this great and complicated country. We are connected to Black churches through our extended families, our friends and teachers, and our intertwined histories and convergent present. Too often cowards inflict us with a crippling fear, but with encouragement and support from likely and unlikely places fear cannot stop us.”

Jewish

“What do we read when there are no good words? As I thought about the text to teach following the tragedy at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, my mind fixed on the nine murdered. Murdered in their church, a holy sanctuary of God. Murdered because of who they were – because of the color of their skin. I turned not to the five scrolls of Torah, but to the book of Lamentations, called in Hebrew simply Eicha. Alas! Lament!”

“I live in two worlds. I am Jewish and I am black, and I am calling out to the Jewish community to please take notice of these past events, not just the events in Ferguson but the number of black men and people of color in our society who are stopped by police, arrested by police and even killed by police... We as a Jewish community can no longer say these issues do not concern us.”

“On the police violence front, we follow the leadership of the young black organizers who emerged from Ferguson, Missouri. When we as rabbis speak out, bringing the power of Jewish tradition and the privilege of our station to bear on these issues, we seek to amplify the divine echoes we hear in our compatriots’ words.”

“Help us, dear God, to turn a constructive ‘moral video camera’ on our society, on our lives, so that we can be honest about the continuing and worsening structural inequities, in housing, education, and employment as well as in law enforcement and criminal justice, because without this honest accounting, there can be no profound change and no long-term peace”

“On this 17th of Tammuz, we Jews are mindful that there is no greater communal violation than the violation of sacred space. And as the walls of ancient Jerusalem were once violated, and now the walls of the contemporary black church are being violated.”

"God's houses are on fire. The palace is burning and we cannot, must not look away. We are compelled to ask: who is in charge here? Will we continue to countenance such acts of hatred? Will we allow white supremacist terrorism to threaten the fabric of black life in the U.S.?"

United Church of Christ

“Let us put our faith to action and be more than empty drums that have long lost their melodies or arrangements. Let us remove our instruments from the poplar trees and call the people, the public officials, and, yes, the church to action to address the festering sores of racism, classism and militarism—as they intersect in this culture of violence. How can we begin to eradicate this evil without acknowledging the realities of racialized policing, hate crimes, and the disproportionate acts of violence against Black and Brown bodies?”

by Rev. Waltrina Middleton, UCC National Minister for Youth Advocacy and Leadership. Her cousin was one of those killed in the massacre at Emanuel AME Church.

“Eradicating racism will happen only as we take action to produce conditions that will allow for the fullness of life for those who have suffered its destructive impact, as we work to reorient institutions that perpetuate racist practices, and as we dismantle systems that coalesce to produce racial injustice.”

from the UCC Collegium of Officers

Mennonite

“The message of the Gospel is that there is a Force more powerful than Empire, more powerful than White Supremacy, and these protesters are preaching the Gospel! I saw in their faces not only righteous anger and determination, but also joy, because they have discovered that they are free because, like Jesus, they no longer are walking in the fear of death....As people who believe in the gospel of peace, now is a time that presents an amazing opportunity for Mennonites to give flesh to our beliefs.”

“#ICantBreathe, an outcry against Eric Garner’s unpunished murder...For those most likely to endure anti-black violence in our society, breathing isn’t just a conduit for mindfulness. It can also be survival. It can also be resistance. It can also be defiance in the face of a state that has both commodified black life and deemed it worthless.”

from Buddhist Peace Fellowship

Baptist

“While some have criticized the form that this protest took as both dangerous and ineffectual, we have come to understand it as part of the disruptive work that we are called to do as spiritually rooted, theologically grounded faith leaders working for social change.When systems of oppression seem intractable, disruptive action becomes an important first step in transforming them.”

from the American Baptist Seminary of the West

United Methodist

“As the events of the past year continue to unveil the present realities of police violence, an unjust justice system, unequal housing opportunities for people of color, unequal access to education, and so many more problems too subtle to see at first glance, we have the opportunity to answer the question, what shall we do? I propose that we do something. As the United Methodist Church. As congregations. As Sunday School classes. There are lots of opportunities to join the prophet in asking, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (Isa 58.6).

“The burning of many black churches in recent weeks reminds us of our need to be ever vigilant against acts of hate and racism. Historic black churches are central to the life of communities, sacred sites of praise and refuge, homes for those often faced with discrimination and segregation, and centers of outreach into the world.”

General Board and Secretary, United Methodist Church

Catholic

“Our faith is based on the belief in the death and resurrection of a brown social revolutionary who was put to death by the state for declaring with his words and actions that the lives of the poor, marginalized, and dispossessed matter. If the U.S. Catholic Church, and indeed the global Church, cannot collectively respond to the ever expanding #BlackLivesMatter movement in an uncompromisingly supportive and radical way, then the Church (in its present structure) is DEAD. But I do not believe that the Church is yet dead.”

“The heavy cross being borne is that of lynching, church burnings and bombings, police brutality and the murder of innocent worshipers. Even until today, the children of "Black Simon" continues to be "laid hold upon;" grieved but determined souls struggling with Christ towards justice and peace for all. The Union of Black Episcopalians call upon all in our churches and community to join us in prayer, moral support and visible actions of support for Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston, S.C.; and, also, the public repudiation of racial violence and injustice in our society.”

“Our nation doesn't have to be this way. Churches do not have to be burning. Innocent lives do not have to be lost. Together, we can bring an end to this dark night and step into the light of justice and peace. But it will take a lot more than blog posts and prayer vigils. It's going to take those of us with privilege changing the way we live our lives; changing the way we teach our children; changing the way we interact in the world.”

“I heard it said today by someone, “I’m trying to deal with my own stuff on race but that’s all I can do.” That’s the American evangelical problem, isn’t it? We think we’re only as big as our hearts. It’s only our motives and thoughts that need to change. Race is an individual sin problem and the solution is conversion or repentance.”

Quaker

“Strategy, tactics, coalition building, and organizing all need to take place but so does gathering in community to tell our stories, be vulnerable, and share new visions that can replace the old ones. Safe spaces for communion, sanctuary, and healing are needed in a world that is too often aggressive, hostile, and dangerous, especially for marginalized communities. What if faith communities can help to create those spaces?”

“So many movements around the world point to a great emergence, a shift of understanding and a realization that we, together, must learn another way to live. A cloud of witnesses stands beside us in our meeting houses and on the streets praying us into being, cheering us on, calling us to take the next step.

Presbyterian

“Many want sustenance that can keep us going for the long journey to face the systemic problems that led to the shooting of Michael Brown… I’m sharing what Presbyterians from across the country have shared with me.”

“This call from King 50 years ago is a call white churches today must hear and take seriously in the midst of racial turmoil around us because too many of us just wish we could close our eyes and make it all go away.”

“If you want a break, you can’t have it. If you want to deny that there are broken systems at play that favor some over others, you cannot do that any more. If you want to catch a breath, you’re reminded that Eric Garner said, “I can’t breathe.””

by Larissa Kwong Abazia

Unitarian Universalist

“We must not just proclaim black lives matter. We must also engage and act with love and compassion. It is the only way to stop the hatred from spreading. We can make a difference, and we must. It is a matter of life and death. Black lives matter.”

“All of us who are white have a responsibility to raise white babies and white children to know the full expression of anti-racist commitment, values, and action. We must play an active role in helping end the spiritual and emotional poverty of white supremacy that trains white people to inhabit resentment, isolation, depression, self-pity, and self-hatred and direct all of it towards communities of color, with anti-Black racism at the heart of this darkness.”

“Right now we as Unitarian Universalists are being called to act. We are being called by our ancestors–those who insisted, who demanded that we help end slavery, that we fight for suffrage, that we join the struggle to end Jim Crow, that we listen to and honor Black Power. Lydia Maria Child and William Lloyd Garrison are calling us. Lucy Stone is calling us. Fannie B. Williams and Frances Ellen Harper are calling us. James Reeb is calling us. Viola Liuzzo is calling us.”

“There are so many reasons for us not to ignore the significance of this moment in time, the lives that have been lost and the need for us to push change into manifestation. We need healing, our ancestors need healing, our communities need to healing, our children need healing.”

SURJ is a national network of groups and individuals organizing white people for racial justice.

Through community organizing, mobilizing, and education, SURJ moves white people to act as part of a multi-racial majority for justice with passion and accountability.

We work to connect people across the country while supporting and collaborating with local and national racial justice organizing efforts. SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills, and political analysis to act for change.